I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8904 

To protect and empower residents of certain federally assisted rental housing, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2024 

Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. WATERS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. OMAR, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. 

MFUME, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, and Mr. FROST) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To protect and empower residents of certain federally 

assisted rental housing, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tenant Empowerment 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MAINTENANCE OF HOUSING. 

7 (a) PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—Section 8(d) of 

8 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 1437f(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(7) ENFORCEMENT OF HOUSING STANDARDS RE4 LATED TO PHYSICAL CONDITION OF PROPERTY.—If the 

5 Secretary determines, upon any inspection or management 

6 review for any multifamily housing project covered by a 

7 housing assistance payments contract under this section, 

8 that there are serious violations of housing standards ap9 plicable to such project that are not corrected after reason10 able notice, or any other substantial or repeated violations 

11 of other program requirements, including residents’ right 

12 to organize, the Secretary shall take one or more of the 

13 following actions in addition to other remedies allowed 

14 under the contract: 

15 ‘‘(A) Withhold all or part of the housing assist16 ance payments due under the contract. 

17 ‘‘(B) Withhold any rent increases otherwise 

18 due. 

19 ‘‘(C) Assume possession and management of 

20 the project and take any actions necessary to correct 

21 the violations, including using such withheld pay22 ments to effectuate repairs or to reimburse others 

23 who make repairs. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Use such withheld payments to pay for 

2 utilities and other services that are the responsibility 

3 of the owner under the lease or applicable law. 

4 ‘‘(8) ESCROW OF TENANT RENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) WITHHOLDING OF RENT.—If the Sec6 retary determines, pursuant to paragraph (7), that 

7 there are serious violations of housing standards ap8 plicable to any multifamily housing project covered 

9 by a housing assistance payments contract under 

10 this section, including a failed physical inspection 

11 score, an unsatisfactory management and occupancy 

12 review score, or a notice of violation of right to orga13 nize regulations under subpart B of part 245 of title 

14 24, Code of Federal Regulations, any tenants in as15 sisted units in the project may withhold the tenant 

16 contribution toward rent and pay such amount, 

17 when due, into an escrow fund in accordance with 

18 procedures established by the Secretary. If a tenant 

19 withholds the tenant contribution toward rent in ac20 cordance with this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

21 withhold all or part of the housing assistance pay22 ments due under the contract for the unit until the 

23 violations are remedied. If an owner has completed 

24 a purchase of multifamily housing found in violation 

25 under this paragraph and commenced a repair proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904

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1 gram to remediate these violations, tenants exer2 cising this right may negotiate a staged release of 

3 funds held in escrow upon reaching measurable 

4 benchmarks as established by the Secretary, includ5 ing consultation with the tenants of the property 

6 and any legitimate tenants’ association, as defined in 

7 subpart B of part 245 of title 24, Code of Federal 

8 Regulations. 

9 ‘‘(B) REPAIR AND DEDUCT.—Any tenant of a 

10 multifamily housing project covered by a housing as11 sistance payments contract under this section may 

12 make payments from the tenant’s contribution to13 ward rent, not to exceed the monthly gross rent for 

14 the unit, to effectuate the cost of repairs or mitiga15 tion to bring their unit into compliance with housing 

16 quality standards, and to deduct the documented 

17 cost from their rent, in accordance with procedures 

18 established by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION.—An owner of a project 

20 shall not evict tenants for nonpayment of rent for 

21 exercising rights under this paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

23 this paragraph shall be construed to limit or pre24 empt any stronger protections which may exist 

25 under State or local law. 


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1 ‘‘(9) PROTECTION OF TENANTS.—An owner of a 

2 multifamily housing project covered by a housing assist3 ance payments contract under this subsection may not ter4 minate the tenancy of any tenant because of the with5 holding or abatement of assistance pursuant to this sub6 section. During the period that assistance is abated pursu7 ant to this subsection, the tenant may terminate the ten8 ancy by notifying the owner. 

9 ‘‘(10) INSPECTIONS UPON REQUEST OR PETITION.— 

10 In addition to periodic inspections by the Secretary, the 

11 Secretary shall conduct an inspection or management re12 view of any multifamily housing project covered by a hous13 ing assistance payments contract under this section when 

14 requested by the local government in which the project is 

15 located or by a petition signed by not less than 25 percent 

16 of the tenants of the occupied units in the project.’’. 

17 (b) PHA PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—Paragraph 

18 (13) of section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

19 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(P) MAINTENANCE OF HOUSING.—Para22 graphs (7) through (10) of subsection (d) of 

23 this section shall apply with respect to a multi24 family housing project covered by a housing as25 sistance payments contract under this paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904

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1 graph, except that in applying such para2 graphs— 

3 ‘‘(i) the term ‘public housing agency’ 

4 shall be substituted for the term ‘Sec5 retary’; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘contract under this 

7 paragraph’ shall be substituted for the 

8 term ‘contract under this section’.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. RESIDENT ENFORCEMENT OF PROJECT OWNER 

10 AGREEMENTS WITH HUD AND USDA. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In each covered agreement, as 

12 such term is defined in subsection (c), any resident, or 

13 resident association, of an affected project shall be per14 mitted to petition the appropriate Secretary requesting en15 forcement of alleged serious violations of housing stand16 ards that are not corrected after reasonable notice, or any 

17 other substantial or repeated violations of other program 

18 requirements, including the right of residents to organize. 

19 (b) JUDICIAL RELIEF.—If the appropriate Secretary, 

20 or the designee of the appropriate Secretary, fails to issue 

21 a determination regarding an enforcement request made 

22 pursuant to subsection (a), or if the determination fails 

23 to provide the enforcement action requested within 90 

24 days after receipt of the petition, the resident, or resident 

25 or tenant association, may seek appropriate judicial relief 


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1 in connection with the alleged violation and enforcement 

2 of the covered agreement in any forum of competent juris3 diction. In the case of any alleged violation that threatens 

4 the health or safety of tenants, the time period for making 

5 such a determination shall not exceed 15 days. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

7 following definitions shall apply: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘ap9 propriate Secretary’’ means, with respect to a cov10 ered agreement, the Secretary identified in para11 graph (2). 

12 (2) COVERED AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

13 agreement’’ means any— 

14 (A) a contract between the Secretary of 

15 Housing and Urban Development, a contract 

16 administrator, or any public housing agency 

17 and an owner for project-based housing assist18 ance payments under section 8 of the United 

19 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

20 (B) agreement under the Multifamily As21 sisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 

22 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) for— 

23 (i) Mark-to-Market Restructuring 

24 Commitments, section 8 rental assistance 

25 for a project involving any action under 


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1 section 517(b) or section 519 of such Act; 

2 or 

3 (ii) Rehabilitation Escrow Deposit 

4 Agreements for Mark-to-Market; 

5 (C) contract for mortgage insurance exe6 cuted by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

7 Development and any owner or purchaser of a 

8 multifamily housing project; 

9 (D) agreement with the Secretary of Agri10 culture in connection with a loan for rural rent11 al housing under section 515 of the Housing 

12 Act of 1949 (42 U.S. C. 1485); or 

13 (E) other Regulatory Agreements, Compli14 ance Agreements, Use Agreements, or similar 

15 contracts between the appropriate Secretary 

16 and the owner that establish housing quality re17 quirements or affordability restrictions. 

18 (d) REGULATIONS.—Within 180 days after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act, the each appropriate Sec20 retary shall issue regulations providing procedures for— 

21 (1) receiving tenant petitions to enforce the 

22 terms of a covered agreement; 

23 (2) evaluating alleged violations of a covered 

24 agreement; and 


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1 (3) providing notice to residents and resident 

2 associations. 

3 (e) PROTECTION OF OTHER TENANT RIGHTS.—This 

4 section shall not be construed to limit or replace the rights 

5 of residents to raise grievances, appeal decisions, or make 

6 other claims provided under any other provision of law. 

7 SEC. 4. RESIDENT ACCESS TO BUILDING INFORMATION. 

8 (a) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—Upon a written re9 quest by a legitimate residents association established with 

10 respect to a multifamily housing property to which section 

11 202 of the Housing and Community Development Amend12 ments of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1715z-1b) applies, by or 

13 through its duly appointed designee or representative, the 

14 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall make 

15 available to such association, designee, or representative, 

16 for the property represented by the association— 

17 (1) information identifying the legal entities 

18 that own or manage the subject property, including 

19 identification of general partners and other prin20 cipals; 

21 (2) an annual operating statement of profit and 

22 loss of the ownership and management entities iden23 tified in paragraph (1), and their other current or 

24 former properties assisted by the Department, in25 cluding the history and current status of mortgage 


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1 assignments, defaults, foreclosures, or departmental 

2 sanctions; 

3 (3) any subsidy contracts and regulatory agree4 ments, use agreements, or other contracts referred 

5 to in section 3(c)(2) of this Act between the owner6 ship entities and the Department of Housing and 

7 Urban Development, including correspondence be8 tween such ownership entities and the Department 

9 for the subject property; 

10 (4) any management reviews, physical inspec11 tion reports, and capital needs assessments of the 

12 subject property or entities identified in paragraph 

13 (1) that are conducted by the Department or a con14 tractor of the Department; and 

15 (5) an annual statement, prepared by the De16 partment or a contract administrator for the subject 

17 property, of the balances of, and expenditures from, 

18 any replacement reserves and other escrow funds for 

19 the property. 

20 (b) PROTECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION.— 

21 Subsection (a) shall not be construed to require disclosure 

22 of Social Security numbers, personal tax returns, or any 

23 other personal financial information of or concerning indi24 viduals who have an interest in the ownership or manage25 ment entities referred to in subsection (a), including salaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904

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1 ries or wages of employees of such entities. In complying 

2 with the requirements of subsection (a), the Secretary 

3 shall not disclose, and shall redact, any information that 

4 identifies, or may be used to identify, a resident of the 

5 multifamily housing property. 

6 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR TENANT AND OTHER PARTICIPATION 

7 AND CAPACITY BUILDING. 

8 Subparagraph (A) of section 514(f)(3) of the Multi9 family Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 

10 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘not more than’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘not less than’’; 

13 (2) in the first parenthetical clause, by inserting 

14 before the closing parenthesis the following: ‘‘, and 

15 predevelopment assistance to enable such transfers’’; 

16 (3) by striking ‘‘of low-income housing for 

17 which project-based rental assistance is provided at 

18 below market rent levels and may not be renewed 

19 (including transfer of developments to tenant 

20 groups, nonprofit organizations, and public entities), 

21 for tenant services’’ and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘and improvement of low-income housing for which 

23 project-based rental assistance, public housing sub24 sidies, low-income housing tax credits, Federal or 

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1 tion 8(t), or project-based vouchers under section 

2 8(o) are provided or proposed’’; and 

3 (4) by inserting after the period at the end the 

4 following: ‘‘For outreach and training of tenants and 

5 technical assistance, the Secretary shall implement a 

6 grant program utilizing performance-based outcome 

7 measures for eligible costs incurred. Recipients pro8 viding capacity building or technical assistance serv9 ices to tenant groups shall be qualified nonprofit 

10 State-wide, countywide, area-wide, or city-wide orga11 nizations with demonstrated experience including at 

12 least a two-year recent track record of organizing 

13 and providing assistance to tenants, and independ14 ence from the owner, a prospective purchaser, or 

15 their managing agents. The Secretary may provide 

16 assistance and training to grantees in administrative 

17 and fiscal management to ensure compliance with 

18 applicable Federal requirements. The Secretary shall 

19 expedite the provision of funding for the fiscal year 

20 in which the date of the enactment of this Act oc21 curs and by entering into an interagency agreement 

22 for not less than $1,000,000 with the Corporation 

23 for National and Community Service to conduct a 

24 tenant outreach and training program to eligible 

25 housing under this subsection. The Secretary shall 


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1 also make available flexible grants to qualified non2 profit organizations that do not own eligible multi3 family properties, for tenant outreach in underserved 

4 areas, and to experienced national or regional non5 profit organizations to provide specialized training or 

6 support to grantees assisted under this section. Not7 withstanding any other provision of law, funds au8 thorized under this paragraph for any fiscal year 

9 shall be available for obligation in subsequent fiscal 

10 years. The Secretary shall require each recipient of 

11 amounts made available pursuant to this subpara12 graph to submit to the Secretary reports, on a quar13 terly basis, detailing the use of such funds and in14 cluding such information as the Secretary shall re15 quire.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. TENANT PARTICIPATION IN PHYSICAL INSPECTION 

17 AND MANAGEMENT REVIEW PROCESSES. 

18 In implementing any inspection requirements for en19 suring decent, safe, and sanitary conditions and any Man20 agement and Occupancy Reviews in multifamily housing 

21 receiving project-based assistance under a program admin22 istered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop23 ment, the Secretary shall— 

24 (1) encourage tenant participation— 


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1 (A) by requiring that the owner shall post 

2 notice of any Department of Housing and 

3 Urban Development (in this section referred to 

4 as ‘‘HUD’’) inspection, including information 

5 about the inspection process, contact informa6 tion, and appeals to HUD, both before and 

7 after the inspection, in common areas of the 

8 property; 

9 (B) by requiring that, after any inspection, 

10 the owner shall post the property score in com11 mon areas of the property and ensure that the 

12 full HUD inspection report (but not including 

13 any personally identifiable information for own14 ers or residents) and related correspondence is 

15 made available for inspection by tenants and 

16 their representatives at the property where they 

17 reside; 

18 (C) by allowing any legitimate tenant orga19 nization, prior to an inspection, to submit a re20 port regarding the property to the inspector 

21 and to HUD; 

22 (D) by notifying and allowing any legiti23 mate tenant organization, upon request, to meet 

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1 spection of common areas, including grounds, 

2 hallways, lobbies, community, mail and laundry 

3 rooms, and other common spaces accessible to 

4 residents; 

5 (E) by including in any HUD physical in6 spection up to five additional units suggested by 

7 tenants or any legitimate tenant organization; 

8 (F) by providing notice, comment, and ap9 peal rights for tenants and any legitimate ten10 ant organization parallel to the notice, com11 ment, and appeal rights provided to owners; 

12 and 

13 (G) by conducting a full or partial Man14 agement and Occupancy Review upon the writ15 ten request by at least 25 percent of residents 

16 or by any legitimate tenant association at the 

17 property, for the issues identified by residents; 

18 (2) require inspectors to notate in their report 

19 potential environmental hazards and unseen health 

20 and safety conditions described by residents, man21 agement staff, or local agencies, or as observed by 

22 the inspector; 

23 (3) require HUD to provide for independent 

24 testing of potential environmental hazards identified 

25 by HUD inspectors; 


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1 (4) require the Secretary to develop a remedial 

2 plan if environmental hazards or health and safety 

3 conditions are documented and to monitor the imple4 mentation of the remedial plan; 

5 (5) require HUD contract inspectors to review 

6 records and consult with local code enforcement 

7 agencies regarding physical conditions of a property 

8 prior to inspections, if the locality’s databases are 

9 accessible; 

10 (6) review work order records in the manage11 ment office of the property to assess for response 

12 time and tenant satisfaction; and 

13 (7) require the Secretary to inspect for compli14 ance with any findings of exigent health and safety 

15 violations resulting from HUD inspections. 

16 SEC. 7. DUTY TO MAINTAIN HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAY17 MENTS DURING FORECLOSURE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi19 sion of law, in managing and disposing of any multifamily 

20 property that is owned or has a mortgage held by the Sec21 retary of Housing and Urban Development, and during 

22 the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract 

23 for rental assistance payments under section 8 of the 

24 United States Housing Act of 1937 or any other program 

25 administered by the Secretary, the Secretary shall mainVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904

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1 tain any rental assistance payments under section 8 of the 

2 United States Housing Act of 1937, and any other pro3 grams, that are attached to any dwelling units in the prop4 erty. 

5 (b) OTHER RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— To the extent 

6 the Secretary determines, in consultation with the tenants 

7 and the local government, that such a multifamily prop8 erty owned or having a mortgage held by the Secretary 

9 is not feasible for continued rental assistance payments 

10 under such section 8 or other programs, based on consid11 eration of (1) the costs of rehabilitating and operating the 

12 property and all available Federal, State, and local re13 sources, including rent adjustments under section 524 of 

14 the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Afford15 ability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note), and (2) envi16 ronmental conditions that cannot be remedied in a cost17 effective fashion, the Secretary may, in consultation with 

18 the tenants of that property, contract for project-based 

19 rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of 

20 other existing housing properties, or provide other rental 

21 assistance. 

22 (c) PROJECT-BASED CONTRACTS.— The Secretary 

23 shall take appropriate steps to ensure that project-based 

24 contracts remain in effect prior to foreclosure, subject to 

25 the exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist 


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1 relocation of tenants for imminent major threats to health 

2 and safety after written notice to and informed consent 

3 of the affected tenants and use of other available remedies, 

4 such as partial abatements or receivership. 

5 (d) RENT LEVELS.—After disposition of any multi6 family property described under this section, the contract 

7 and allowable rent levels on such properties shall be sub8 ject to the requirements under section 524 of the Multi9 family Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 

10 1997. 

11 SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION OF TENANT PARTICIPATION IN 

12 MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS. 

13 The last sentence of section 202(a) of the Housing 

14 and Community Development Amendments of 1978 (12 

15 U.S.C. 1715z–1b(a)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘(42 

16 U.S.C. 1437f),’’ the following: ‘‘including a project as17 sisted under section 8(o)(13) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)),’’. 

Æ 


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